The first DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 400 turboprop ordered by Russia’s government-owned oil company Rosneft arrived at Krasnoyarsk on December 23. The second airframe of the type produced by Viking Air has completed acceptance procedures and will be ferried from Canada to Siberia early in 2016, a source told Russian Aviation Insider.

The aircraft is accepted and ferried to Russia by AeroGeo airline, which won Rosneft’s tender for the services in November. RN-Aircraft, Rosneft’s corporate aircraft operator signed the deal with Viking Air in August, according to which the batch of ten 19-seat aircraft will be delivered to Russia before the end of the next year. The aircraft will be used to carry shift workers to oil fields in Krasnoyarsk region, and may enter service in the first half of 2016.

Rosneft has not yet decided on the operator of the DHC-6s. RN-Aircraft does not have an Air Operator Certificate, the source said. Besides the AeroGeo, there another candidate for the job, Surgut-based air carrier Skol, which has an affiliate in Krasnoyarsk. AeroGeo already disposes of trained staff and a maintenance center approved for servicing Pratt & Whitney Canada РТ6А-34 engines. It was also the only participant in RN-Aircraft’s tenders for maintenance of the aircraft and storage of spares and tooling for the DHC-6s. The contracts for the total of $280,000 were signed in December.

Skol has just started to train its specialists for the type operation.

Wednesday, 23 December 2015

MSN 169 TI-ATZ has returned to service in Costa Rica after having been parked for some time. It has also received a new paint scheme as well. This aircraft was originally delivered to Aero Commuter of Long Beach in 1968, and came to Costa Rica in 1993.

Lastly, a shot of the ramp at Skytek in Cairns showing Hevilift's P2-KSI (MSN 706) and Solomons H4-SID (MSN 442), the latter of which being without engines. H4-SID has been present in Cairns since arriving from Honiara back on 29-Sep-2015.

I haven't run a photo of MSN 869 in quite some time, primarily as it normally stays within its home waters between Fiji and New Caledonia. Yesterday however if flew from Nouméa to Brisbane, QLD where it was caught courtesy of the Brisbane Aircraft Movements blog. Today the aircraft has filed to continue on to Cairns, QLD.

The aircraft remains trustee registered to Wells Fargo Bank Northwest in Salt Lake City, operated by owners from California, and normally based in Nadi, Fiji.

Friday, 18 December 2015

A Twin Otter always looks best in an off airport environment, and the shot below from Norm Grist of C-GKCJ is a perfect example. Taken on Akpatok Island, Nunavut which is located in Ungava Bay south of Baffin Island. Many thanks to Norm for the contribution.

I just noticed that I hadn't previously shown the Spokane-Victoria sector from 09-Dec-2015 for 932, so it is included for the record. Tim managed to catch the aircraft returning from a compass swing yesterday, although the weather wasn't that great at the time. As you can see, it is another aircraft destined for Russia in the generic first style colour scheme.

The first Series 400 for delivery to Russia's Rosneft has departed on delivery, it is expected to be joined by the second before the end of the year. It can be seen below at Victoria, courtesy of Tim Martin.

Tuesday, 15 December 2015

Former Regent Airways DHC-6-400 C-FOAE (ex S2-AHE) has turned up in Taipei at the mainly domestic airport of Songshan. As seen below, the aircraft still carries Regent colours however the titles have been covered with a Twin Otter Series 400 sticker, and of course it carries the new Canadian registration. The aircraft is in the process of being returned to the lessor.

Catching up with C-FKBK as it completed its delivery flight to Winair, the aircraft has now arrived in Saint Maarten. The next change is expected to be the cancellation of the Canadian registration. The aircraft is seen below at Isla Grande Airport in San Juan, with thanks to Juan Carlos Photography.

After initially being filed for departure yesterday, C-FKBK has today departed Calgary en route to Williston and Spencer, IA. As with MSN 793 C-FKBU which departed Calgary on 21-Nov-2015, the expected destination for C-FKBK is Saint Maarten.

After an interruption of 23-years, on 17-Nov-2015 Aurora has restored scheduled service from Vladivostok to Dalnerechensk, the oldest and most northern town of Primorsky Krai. The flight operates twice weekly, using the Twin Otter Series 400, with a flight time of 1 hour and 20 minutes.

The carrier has also introduced the Viking Series 400 Twin Otter to the Vladivostok - Dalnegorsk route with effect from 04-Dec-2015. The twice-weekly service restores the air link between the two cities following a hiatus of nearly twenty years.

Due to local demand, Aurora will also use the Twin Otter for flights from Vladivostok to Kavalerovo during December.

Monday, 7 December 2015

WestWind Aviation of Saskatoon, SK has announced the acquisition of aircraft and facility assets from La Ronge-based Osprey Wings Ltd.

Included in the sale are four Twin Otters (as well as a single Beech 200, and two Beech 1900's) and Osprey employees have joined the WestWind organization. At this time, none of the former Osprey aircraft have yet been re-registered to WestWind, however that information will be published once it becomes available.

Coincidentally however today is the first time that the previous Osprey Twin Otter aircraft are appearing on flight trackers using the WestWind WEW designator. Previously, the Osprey aircraft had operated using their registrations as call signs.

Officially imported to Canada 02-Dec-2015; the return to Canada of S2-AHE reportedly follows the termination of the Chevron Bangladesh contract. The aircraft was originally delivered to Dhaka in Sept-2013.

The aircraft is seen below at Nis, Serbia on 16-Sep-2013 as it was being delivered to Bangladesh by World Wide Ferry.

The latest Ikhana Series 200HG™ to leave their California facility is MSN 96, N901RT which is seen below yesterday while parked on the Regent Aircraft ramp at Calgary-International. The aircraft is currently being prepared for the delivery ferry flight. As can be seen in the picture it has been fitted with a utility interior and an Ikhana roll-up door.

Friday, 27 November 2015

The second of the two pending delivery flights I spoke of earlier today has now filed for departure from the Ikhana facility in Murrieta. N901RT is one of the three aircraft that were acquired from West Coast Air in Vancouver in 2014, and was subsequently upgraded to Series 200HG standard by Ikhana.

96 - DHC-6-200HG™ N901RT Ikhana Group Inc., Murrieta, CA

27-Nov-2015

Murrieta, CA (F70) - Caldwell-Industrial, ID (KEUL/EUL)

At the moment, the aircraft is currently filed in the FAA system as N910RT rather than N901RT.

As I alluded to in an earlier post, C-GUZP has now departed Springbank enroute to its first stop in Spokane, and then continuing on to North Bend, OR. This is the first Twin Otter for Indonesian operator Spirit Avia Sentosa, and is being ferried across the Pacific by World Wide Ferry.

The aircraft is seen below at Springbank after returning from painting in Mena, AR.

Today, a couple of catch-up items for N288SA and F-OCQZ below, with the former just needing confirmation that it has indeed arrived in Biak, and the latter a confirmation that it has completed the sector into Honiara.

The delivery of C-FMRI (see blog entry for yesterday) should continue today, departing from Carlsbad, NM en route to Calgary, while two other aircraft may also launch on delivery flights today, one from Canada, and one from the U.S.

Certainly something to brighten up an otherwise dull Russian winter, one of the two Rosneft Series 400's seen yesterday at Victoria while doing a compass swing. The other one, MSN 928 C-GFAP remains inside. Both are expected to be handed over to Rosneft before the end of the year.

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Arrived Saint Vincent on delivery to SVG Air on 23-Nov-2015, and repainted as J8-UNI by 24-Nov-2015, as seen in the photo below. The Canadian registration cancellation has yet to be processed by
Transport Canada.

Tuesday, 24 November 2015

MSN 900, N915VK was flown down to Murrieta just over a year ago, and is seen on the ramp there last week. This is also the aircraft that did the trip down to Brazil in Aug-2014. Thanks to John Oram for the photo.

CAAMS Leasing has purchased its first pre-owned Viking DHC-6 Series 400 from Körfez Havaçilik Turizm of Turkey. MSN 857 is available for immediate long term lease. CAAMS intends to purchase an additional ten Viking Series 400 Twin Otters for its leasing portfolio in 2016.

CAAMS recently placed two Legacy DHC-6 Series 300 Twin Otters, MSN 389 and MSN 620 with Dimonim Air, operating in Papua, Indonesia. The two aircraft were leased just prior to the recent Indonesia Aging Aircraft Rule implementation, which requires newly imported aircraft to be 10 years old or less.

C-GKKN is nearing its destination of Saint Vincent on delivery to SVG Air. The aircraft had departed from the Unity Group MRO in Airdrie, AB on 19-Nov-2015. The former MASWings aircraft arrived in Canada in Jan-2015 and was fully overhauled and refurbished in Airdrie.

Saturday, 21 November 2015

On the heels of Kenn Borek's C-FKBU currently heading to Iowa, C-GKKN has departed Great Falls, MT for South Dakota. C-GKKN had arrived in Great Falls from Airdrie on 19-Nov-2015. The aircraft is bound for Grenadine Air Alliance, where it will be operated by SVG Air.

Coincidentally, although both aircraft spent their careers on different continents, they both came out of Downsview at the same time in 1982, being one unit apart (MSN 792 and 793).

The aircraft is seen below prior to departure from Canada, with the national flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

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